Certis it may be too late to change you mind on this but make a goblin. I tell you they had one of the best introduction newbie expereinces in the game. Orcs have same starting area and I am guessing same quest sequences but not sure so that may be an alternative if you do not want to be a goblin.

Way to take one for the team!!

Looks like it may be a lonely time for Elysium and I. We might need to start recruiting in the game, old school. I hope they realize that I'm kind of a big deal on the internet.

*whistles unattentively with eyes rolled skyward trying to feign indifference*

I could think of someone else who'd be interested...

Makes you wonder how this is worthy of game of the week.

Well played Certis, but you're 2 months early. Get that crazy Canadian calendar fix, it's FEBRUARY first.

I would think you mean "turn of the century" there no?

Hah, I just wanted to sound like an old fuddy duddy despite the "turn of the century" being only 7 years ago!

I plan to give this a shot. I'm not sure why, since historically I dislike this entire genre, but fair is fair

Yeah I don't mind waiting. I actually talked my friend into getting NWN2 hoping it would be a decent distraction.

So the game is apparently in stores. How is it?

Difficult good. Grind bad. A lot, though, depends on the user population. Well-populated servers are good, howling wastelands bad.

Although I am quoting you Certis, my question is more general. I just don't get how the word difficult gets thrown around in relation to Vanguard. Not just here, but in many places folks say Vanguard is for the hardcore player, because its a more difficult game... This implies an elite-ism around its player base from the get go. I dont hear the term hardcore or difficult get thrown around as immediately for WoW, Guild Wars, etc etc yet they both probably can be as difficult, hardcore or casual as the player makes them.

To me, the use of the term 'difficult' in relation to Vanguard just seems to equate to:
1) Inefficient gaming progression experience?
2) Inaccessible interface or convention?
3) Developer biased design, instead of customer focused.
4) A poor product or incomplete feature set.

Am I wrong?

Tonight I'll be trimming out a window. I can use a hammer and nails, which is only a more difficult experience in the sense that it takes more time, an extra step or two, a bit more patching and sanding afterwards to achieve the goal. Or I can use my pneumatic airgun, the experience will be more efficient from a timing perspective. Though I'll still need to patch and sand etc, it will be a cleaner job and I will reach the same goal. I dunno, I guess I just prefer more modern MMORPGs pneumatic airgun approach, to me its more efficient and clean... not less difficult, while Vanguard seems a look back at the more traditional hammer and nails approach. I dont think that difference is a reflection on skill either, as most craftsmen i see, tend to use airguns whenever possible these days.

based on the beta right off the bat I was immediatly hit with a key difference in Vanguard's approach in terms of "difficulty"

You were still required to stand next to NPC's and open your chat window and physically type in

Hail, so and so

Though I did notice that in some ways Vanguard ripped off WoW's quest system so at least your not wandering aimlessly or typing endless combination of phrases to trigger an NPC's response or action.

Dunno.. but yes.. once triggered.. then the quest guy would get that little shield over them.. but like in the beta the intial newb quest the starter was just standing there with no indication that he was the quest npc.. right clicking on him did nothing.. as did left clicking.. I stood next to him.. then hailed him and it started.

Then after that he had the shield.

oh ok.. then they just fixed that up.. it did seem odd that you had to hail them to start the process and then it was wow like.